China Coast Guard defends use of water cannons vs PH vessels in WPS

Defending its latest water cannon attack, the China Coast Guard asserted it took “control measures” against the Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea on Saturday, Dec. 9.

China Coast Guard fires water cannon at a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel in Bajo de Masinloc on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023. (PCG screenshot)

In a statement posted on China Daily, the CCG said the three vessels of the Philippines’ Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) were found “intruding” into the waters near Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) off Zambales province.

The BFAR boats were on their way to bring supplies to Filipino fishermen near the shoal when they were attacked by the CCG and the Chinese maritime militia.

These Philippine vessels were identifed by the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) as Datu Sanday, Datu Bankaw, and Datu Tamblot, all of which were on a “regular humanitarian and support mission.”

China calls the shoal as Huangyan Island, which it claimed as part of its territorial waters.

The CCG statement said that China “holds indisputable sovereignty” ‘and has “sovereign rights and jurisdiction” over the disputed island and its adjacent waters.

But the shoal is 120 nautical miles from Luzon island, and is well within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Philippines based on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

It is 594 nautical miles from China’s Hainan Island.

The maritime incident was the third time that CCG vessels used water cannon to stop Philippine civilian ships in the disputed waters. The first two encounters involved Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG) resupply mission to BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal on Aug. 5 and Nov. 10 of this year.

Beijing’s claim of the entire South China Sea, including features inside the EEZs of the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Taiwan, raised regional and international tensions, with several countries urging it to abide by international laws and rulings, including the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal ruling awarded to Manila.